Does anyone here know who Blossom Dearie is?

She has a sort of lesbian of the 1960s look about her...and a nice, unusual singing voice. The audience don't seem to know what to make of her and her little song.

I'd never even heard of her before.

by Anonymous

reply 47

03/15/2013

She was one of my math teachers...

by Anonymous

reply 1

03/14/2013

She's hip!

And a fantastic songwriter too.

by Anonymous

reply 2

03/14/2013

Some friends of my parents introduced me to her.

I like her, but her voice is a bit twee.

I heard she is a uber-bitch in nightclubs. Don't you DARE let a fork hit a plate while she is singing.

by Anonymous

reply 3

03/14/2013

She's been dead for four years.

by Anonymous

reply 4

03/14/2013

I agree completely with R3. I can't take about two songs and then I want someone who sings with energy. I've also heard she's a cabaret nazi.

by Anonymous

reply 5

03/14/2013

We had a Blossom Dearie thread here not six months ago. You could probably dig up all the information you want by using the search function.

by Anonymous

reply 6

03/14/2013

Her voice is fantastic in mixes, it's a welcome after some "belters"!

by Anonymous

reply 7

03/14/2013

Original thread:

by Anonymous

reply 8

03/14/2013

"Blossom Dearie" sounds like a Cockney drag queen's name.

by Anonymous

reply 9

03/14/2013

[quote]We had a Blossom Dearie thread here not six months ago.

I didn't even cross my mind to check and didn't expect anyone to have a clue who she was.

by Anonymous

reply 10

03/14/2013

^ I thought it was a stage name for the longest.

by Anonymous

reply 11

03/14/2013

R8 posted a thread from 2010, has some great info.

by Anonymous

reply 12

03/14/2013

[quote]I didn't even cross my mind to check and didn't expect anyone to have a clue who she was.

Are you kidding? Gay men live to know about this kind of stuff.

by Anonymous

reply 13

03/14/2013

I used to have several of her albums. "Albums" tells you I am old. I loved her music.

by Anonymous

reply 14

03/14/2013

The Brazilian Girls' remix of Blossom's "Just One of Those Things" was popular in the clubs a few years ago.

by Anonymous

reply 15

03/14/2013

Annoying to buy one of her CDs and discover that much of it is her piano playing -- I won't be cruel enough to call them "stylings."

Interesting, somewhat eclectic taste in music.

by Anonymous

reply 16

03/14/2013

Elliot Smith's cover of "Figure Eight".

by Anonymous

reply 17

03/14/2013

Blossom Dearie also sang the Schoolhouse Rock song where the girl and her pet turtle unpack their adjectives.

by Anonymous

reply 18

03/14/2013

I think Blossom Dearie is one of those people who is famous in New York but not anywhere else.

I sometimes find myself mentioning people like Dearie to non-NYers thinking they will know their name and then realizing that she is a local phenomena.

The Mighty Sparrow, Elaine Strich, Reverb Motherfuckers, Jayne Atkinson, Janet McTeer---New Yorkers know them but get outside the five boroughs and pfft! (I think Strich has become known outside the city but only in the last decade or so.)

by Anonymous

reply 19

03/14/2013

Thanks, Reno Sweeney.

by Anonymous

reply 20

03/14/2013

I first heard her on the Simply Dusty set. She sang a song called "Dusty Springfield", which was included in the set. I imagine she wrote it as well. It's odd but kind of sweet.

by Anonymous

reply 21

03/14/2013

r19 who'da thunk I would come across someone in a white site would know about the Mighty Sparrow or any Calypsonian

by Anonymous

reply 22

03/14/2013

Janet McTeer isn't known outside of New York?!

by Anonymous

reply 23

03/14/2013

I love Blossom Dearie. I love her 50s and 60s stuff. She had such a great sound and look.

by Anonymous

reply 24

03/14/2013

Here's a great little number by Blossom, recorded live.

The song is "Bruce"

It just screams elder-gay! Yes, we can dispense with any more comments, it's been said.

Oh shut up, I'm 51 and love the tune.

by Anonymous

reply 25

03/14/2013

The song at r2, link, "I'm Hip" was co-written by Dave Frishberg, most well known for "My Attorney Bernie". He also wrote and sang some of the schoolhouse rock songs.

Here's Blossom's version of My Attorney Bernie:

by Anonymous

reply 26

03/14/2013

She had a regular gig for years at one NYC nightclub or another. She performed almost until the end of her life. I saw her several times and was delightful, most definitely not a Nazi.

by Anonymous

reply 27

03/14/2013

They play her stuff on the Siriusly Sinatra channel on SiriusXM from time to time.

by Anonymous

reply 28

03/14/2013

My attorney Bernie is a gas! I haven't heard that in years.

by Anonymous

reply 29

03/14/2013

What was horrible?

by Anonymous

reply 31

03/14/2013

[quote]You White folks will listen to anything.

Except Rap which is shit.

by Anonymous

reply 32

03/14/2013

She was such a vile person.

by Anonymous

reply 33

03/14/2013

[quote]That was horrible OP. You White folks will listen to anything.

LOL.

It needs a few plays and you'll find yourself, like me, singing it in the shower.

She's strangely wooden in the clip and the audience don't seem to know what to make of it. But the song's v.cute or maybe it's just because I'm white.

I'll link it again for, R31.

Also, thanks everyone, very much for all the clips and info. I've really enjoyed myself reading the thread.

by Anonymous

reply 34

03/14/2013

Oops, R34's me, OP.

I'll take this as an excuse to link another of her songs I've discovered that I like.

by Anonymous

reply 35

03/14/2013

[quote] (I think Strich has become known outside the city but only in the last decade or so.)

Not known enough for people in the city to spell her name correctly though.

by Anonymous

reply 36

03/14/2013

Blossom was a patron of Fedora Restaurant on West 4th Street for decades. One day she decided the television at the bar annoyed her. She never went back.

by Anonymous

reply 37

03/14/2013

[quote](I think Strich has become known outside the city but only in the last decade or so.)

Stritch was also well known in England, where I grew up, due to the awful and extremely popular TV sitcom she made there in the '70s.

Check out the dreadful theme tune, which she sang + whole first episode @ link.

by Anonymous

reply 38

03/14/2013

I always assumed from the name that she was a rather large African American woman.

by Anonymous

reply 39

03/14/2013

She stayed with me a few days many years ago. Her adjectives took up several drawers, amazingly.

by Anonymous

reply 40

03/14/2013

I have most of her albums, some autographed. Saw her live twice, about 15 years apart.

Love her.

by Anonymous

reply 41

03/14/2013

Until recently the OP would have been laughed off the site for his ignorance.

But now....

Her reputation as a tough, no-nonsense, suffer-no-fools person is belied by her clipped, brilliant little methods. Like a world in a champagne bubble.

by Anonymous

reply 42

03/15/2013

One of the most annoying names of all time.

by Anonymous

reply 43

03/15/2013

You're just jealous!

by Anonymous

reply 44

03/15/2013

She was a unique song stylist and a great jazz pianist. In her obit, Stephen Holden called her a genre unto herself.

She wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but I loved her.

by Anonymous

reply 45

03/15/2013

Played her music at my partner's funeral. She was a wonderful song stylist. Sorry, but if you don't get her then something's amiss in your gay sophisticate makeup.

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